Notes on “Early Morning of War” – Part 5

To recap, here’s how this works: as I read Edward Longacre’s study of the First Battle of Bull Run, The Early Morning of War, I put little Post-Its where I saw something with which I agreed or disagreed, or which I didn’t know, or which I did know and was really glad to see; essentially, anything that made me say “hmm…” So I’ll go through the book and cover in these updates where I put the Post-It and why. Some of these will be nit-picky for sure. Some of them will be issues that can’t have a right or wrong position. Some of them are, I think, cut and dry. So, here we go:

Chapter 5: Escaping the Deathtrap (In which we go back to the Valley. As I said before, I’m not of the school that the Valley is integral to the story of First Bull Run, but the author is, so let’s take a look.)

P. 116 – To bolster his argument that the retention of Harper’s Ferry was vital, Jefferson Davis argued that it’s loss would “interrupt our communication with Maryland, and injure our cause in that state.”

P. 121 – Early on, Col. Ambrose Burnside’s 1st Rhode Island Infantry was part of George Thomas’s brigade of Patterson’s command. This of course would change and Burnside and the 1st RI would have a prominent role at Bull Run.

P. 124 – After taking Harper’s Ferry in mid-June “without firing a shot,” Patterson determined that Johnston’s retreat was so rapid he could not overtake him before Winchester.

P. 124-125 – Part and parcel to the mixed signals Patterson was receiving from Winfield Scott all during his foray into the Valley, after taking Harper’s Ferry, seeing no need for Patterson to press Johnston, Scott ordered the U. S. Regulars and the 1st RI returned to Washington. This left Patterson “with an army composed almost entirely of three-months’ volunteers, half of whose service terms had already expired or were about to.” The author theorizes that part of Scott’s reasoning was “a belated realization that the present campaign would be won or lost in McDowell’s theater. Scott had finally come to see Patterson’s operations as supportive of McDowell’s.” Would he ever communicate this realization to Patterson?

P. 130 – On June 20, on Johnston’s ordered the not-as-yet “Stonewall” Jackson destroyed B&O train cars and tracks at Martinsburg, to deny the resources to the enemy. Johnston ordered this as he understood it in conformance with directives from Richmond. However, the reaction from those quarters was far from laudatory. Maryland politicians and citizens, and especially B&O shareholders, were livid. Johnston’s stock in the Confederacy was now losing value as well.

PP. 135-137 – Also on the 20th, Scott ordered Patterson to submit a plan for moving his army east to support Col. Charles P. Stone’s brigade’s move on Confederate outposts between Leesburg and Washington. Patterson submitted plans for just such a move, which he later argued would have changed events considerably in favor of the Union.But on the 25th, Scott changed his mind and told Patterson to stay at Harper’s Ferry. Scott continued to mix signals [IMO (in my opinion)] by cautioning Patterson to engage Johnston only “if you are in superior or equal force,” but that it “would not due to pursue them as far as Winchester.” In light of later events and Scott’s assertions to the contrary, the General-in-Chief’s directives to Patterson were as clear as mud [again, IMO].

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 6

Part 7

“Charge of the ‘Georgia Eighth'”

On a recent visit to Gettysburg, friend Craig Swain gifted me a nifty little book, Memoirs of the War Between the States, by Ethel Maddox Byrd and Zelda Haas Cassey. The book was published in 1961. It contains the poem below, written by “an Unknown Lady in Maryland,” which I thought you all might find interesting.

CHARGE OF THE “GEORGIA EIGHTH” AT THE BATTLE OF MANASSAS

The morning shines gaily
On proud Manassas’ height.
Six Hundred gallant Georgians
Are ready for the fight.

Each heart beats high and holy,
As with measured step they go,
For they stand between their firesides
And the invading foe.

The battle rages fiercely;
Has raged since break of day; And Sherman’s fatal battery,
With corpses, strews the way.

Cries Beauregard, with thrilling voice,
As the trumpets call,
“Forward, Brave comrades, to the charge,
That battery must fall!”

Six Hundred gallant Georgians –
With quickened step they go;
And fearlessly they follow
Their leader, brave Bartow.

Oh! Georgia’s stainless chivalry,
God speed you in the fight!
Your cause is just, your arms are strong,
Sweep onward in your might.

The setting sun sinks slowly
On the gory battlefield;
And to Southern rights and valor
The Northern hirelings yield.

The setting sun looks sadly,
Where the dead and dying lay,
On the ghastly field of battle,
The Six Hundred! Where are they?

Five deep round Sherman’s battery
They lie at set of sun!
But the battery is taken
And the red field is won!

Sixty of the Six Hundred
Stand round their leader now,
But death’s eternal shadow, clouds
His vainly-laureled brow.

Oh! Georgia’s glorious chivalry!
The loved ones and the brave!
Who poured their blood like water out,
And died that they might save!

And Beauregard, the Conqueror,
Rides up and bares his head –
“Uncovered, I salute
The Georgia Eighth,” he said.

When history shall reckon
Of this day’s deeds and fame,
Oh! whose shall be the glory!
And whose shall be the shame!

Memoirs of the War Between the States, pp. 28-29

 

 

Preview: McMillan, “Gettysburg Rebels”

Fresh off the presses is Tom McMillan’s Gettysburg Rebels, a signed copy of which arrived in my mailbox while I was away this past weekend in, you guessed it, Gettysburg. (I only live three and a half hours away from the place, but don’t get out there nearly as often as one might think.)

As you can see from the cover, Gettysburg Rebels is the story of five former citizens of the town who returned as Confederate soldiers in July, 1863. The stories of Wesley Culp and Henry Wentz may be familiar to many of you, but some of you are surely wondering who the other three men were. No spoilers here – you’ll have to read the book.

The author has researched the stories of all five men and presented them in flowing style. He also ponders why, with 5 former residents of the town in his Army of Northern Virginia, its commander was not made aware of their presence and could not rely on them for more accurate intelligence on the environs than he ultimately received from his staff.

You get: 234 pages of narrative; bibliography; descriptive end notes (that is, read them, there’s good stuff in them); and an index.

Mr. McMillan is the author of Flight 93: The Story, the Aftermath, and the Legacy of American Courage on 9/11. He’s been the VP of Communications for the defending, back-to-back NHL Stanley Cup Champions Pittsburgh Penguins for the past 21 years. I sure hope he takes it easy at the parade today.